Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to an improved toasting apparatus, particularly suited for use in a fastfood restaurant operation for the toasting of buns. In the 1950xe2x80x2s most buns were toasted by placing them face down on a flat griddle. They absorbed the heat radiated off the griddle surface, and were toasted in about four to six minutes. Subsequent decades brought mechanized bun toasters of two basic types. The first is radiant toasters (e.g., home toasters) which utilize heat elements that never directly touch the bun, but toast through radiant heat transfer. Modern commercial radiant toasters utilize a conveyor belt to allow quicker processing of buns. A second type of toaster is the contact toaster, which uses a conveyor to run a bun over a hot surface. These toasters use an opposing surface to compress the bun and get good contact of the lower surface of the bun with the hot surface.
While both radiant and contact toasters allow quicker and easier toasting, they do not impart the same quality of toast as the old fashioned method of placing buns on a flat griddle. Quality oriented fast-food restaurants continue to use the old fashioned toasting method because of the flavor and texture it imparts to the bun. However, most contact toasters use pressure to accelerate the toasting process, typically, by using an opposing plate to compress the bun. The disadvantages of this method include distortion of the shape of the bun by compressing it at its highest points, and allowing condensation to form on the top surface of the bun, which changes texture.
The prior art discloses contact toasters wherein weights are placed upon the bun surface opposite the surface placed upon a griddle to be toasted. Relevant prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 2,225,068, Bun Toasting Machine, issued Dec. 17, 19940, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,813, Self-Adjusting Weights for Toasting Machine, issued Mar. 31, 1964.
Each of these references discloses weights arranged on conveyor chains which move buns forward along a toasting plate. In U.S. Pat. No. ""068, FIGS. 4 and 5, the weights are seen to be discs said to be ⅔ the diameter of the bun, the curvature of the plurality of discs conforming xe2x80x9capproximately to the average curvature of the top of the bunxe2x80x9d. U.S. Pat. No. ""813 discloses chain-suspended weights which are self-adjusting to the extent of accommodating themselves to articles of variable size, shape or thickness as articles are conveyed across a toasting plate. The weights are formed in roughly a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shape with a flat bottom of approximately four square inches between an upwardly curved front wall and an upwardly extending rear wall, with a central cut-out portion so as to be formed with side suspension arms having apertures to receive a hinge shaft transversely connected to the conveyor chains. When then the weight is hanging freely from the hinge shaft, the bottom wall is positioned in a substantially horizontal plane.
The weights described in the references are for use with conveyor contact toaster systems. In each of the patents, the weights are such that the bun is conformed to the shape of the weight. Sliding the bun surface across the toasting griddle tends to promote caramelization. Caramelization is defined as the process of changing the sugar content of a food into caramel, an amorphous brittle brown and somewhat bitter substance, by heating sugar, thereby changing bun texture as well as taste. Further, the large contact surface of the weights disclosed present a relatively large surface area thus being susceptible to condensation which wets the upper surface of the bun and changes the texture thereof. Further, for a given xe2x80x9cfootprint,xe2x80x9d the space necessarily dedicated to the conveyor mechanism leaves much less working space.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide improved weighted means which can exert downward pressure on articles being toasted, and which are self-adjusting to the extent of accommodating themselves to contours and dimensions of articles of said various sizes, shapes or thickness.
It is another object of this invention to provides a means of simultaneously and uniformly toasting articles of differing contours and dimensions without distortion of the upper surface contour thereof, while avoiding the caramelization of the article surface contacting the griddle;
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a maneuverable and compact apparatus having a minimum xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d for use at cooking stations where space is limited.
And yet another object is to provide improved weights for a clamshell griddle toaster which will float upon and exert downward pressure on the upper surface of articles being toasted, which will be self-adjusting to the extent of accommodation to articles of varying dimensions and contours as placed upon the griddle, and which will present a minimal surface area for collection of condensation as an incident of the toasting operation.
the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for simultaneously and evenly toasting articles of differing shapes and sizes on a flat metal surface griddle. By way of example, a hamburger bun is sliced horizontally through its midsection, the top potion hereinafter being identified as the xe2x80x9ccrown,xe2x80x9d and the lower portion as the xe2x80x9cheel.xe2x80x9d The apparatus comprises a hinged clamshell plate perforated with a multitude of passageways, into each of which is slideably arranged an improved weighted finger or pin, which plate can be lowered over a griddle surface to a position whereby each finger, moving independently, floats, i.e., rests upon, and places a gentle pressure upon the upper surface of the articles arranged upon the griddle, such as bun crowns and heels, irrespective of their differing contours.
It is a feature of the present invention that, in operation, the clamshell plate containing the improved weighted fingers from a generally vertical disengaged position travels downwardly, in an arcuate clockwise path, transitioning to a generally horizontal orientation parallel to the plane of the griddle, whereupon the plate continues its decent in a vertical path to a stand-off position above the griddle. The small, weighted fingers are lowered gradually from the clamshell plate and rest on the bun surface. Each finger moves independently and places a small weight on the bun portions. The sum of many fingers provides a gentle pressure on the bun upper surfaces which accelerates the toasting process without distorting the shape thereof and, because of the configuration of the bun-touching finger ends, a minimal area is presented for the collection of condensation. Thus, improvement of toasting speed and quality are achieved without the negatives of other toasting methods. When the toasting process is completed, the clamshell lid is raised, and the bun portions can be removed. New bun portions are then added to the griddle and the process is repeated. It has been found that the Floating Clamshell Bun Toaster speeds up the toasting process by 40 to 50% while imparting the same flavor and texture as the old fashioned flat griddle toasting technique.